Letters to the editor: Westside rail project: TriMet criticized

The taxpayers in this country are continually getting screwed ("Rail car deal snags TriMet for millions, Dec. 14).

A corporation as large as TriMet should have specific procedures in place for checking out the financial conditions of prospective companies they would like to do business with It's "Risk Analysis 101."

There is no logical reason that Tom Rader and Colorado Railcar Manufacturing should have been able to scam TriMet to the tune of millions, unless you had an amateur doing this high-dollar purchase. In my 30 years in purchasing I have never seen such ridiculous contract management.

T. R. JENNINGS
Beaverton

We should be very concerned about difficulties encountered by TriMet in acquiring equipment for the Westside Commuter Rail project.

Throughout the world there are many suppliers of fast, efficient and safe passenger rail equipment. Their safety record far exceeds the transportation safety record we see on U.S. highways.

But, because that lightweight rail equipment does not meet "safety" standards set by the Federal Railroad Administration, we cannot use that technology in the U.S. And we thus pay a very heavy price.

DAN MCFARLING
Aloha

I questioned TriMet's choice of car and carmaker years ago, back when TriMet was first designing the WES system.

The taxpayers of our region were sold an $80 million "starter commuter rail project." That $80 million became $117.5 million, then $133 million and now it's $166 million.

Remember how TriMet claimed it couldn't add bus service? With $166 million, it could have purchased 220 diesel-electric hybrid articulated buses (based upon cost figures provided by King County (Washington) Metro). Further, many of TriMet's bus lines operate seven days a week, whereas WES is a "weekday rush hour only" service.

Yes, bus service does have higher operational costs than a finished and operating light rail line, but it provides more service at a much lower capital cost. That $166 million could have been given to all of TriMet's service district. Not only would a number of bus lines [running parallel or nearby routes] receive more frequent service, but they would have had additional capacity provided by an articulated bus, and cleaner air and less fuel consumption by having a hybrid power-plant installed in a larger, higher-capacity bus. It's past time that the region takes a long, hard look at TriMet and decide -- was Colorado Railcar lying to TriMet? Or were we lied to by TriMet management?